When io9 reader Chris Carey's grandfather, a WWII veteran, passed away, he took it upon himself to assemble a slideshow for the funeral. While searching through a dusty photo album that he'd found in the attic, Carey made an incredible find: numerous photographs of the atomic bomb testing conducted at Bikini Atoll.

Carey recounted his discovery in an email to io9:

My grandfather passed away last month (at 93 years!). I always knew that he had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and had been a part of the atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll, but it wasn't until I went through his old photo albums... that I found actual pictures of the testing.

The images are awe-inspiring. He always told me it was the most terrible thing he'd ever seen. You'll notice in some of the pictures that there are a bunch of ships that are REALLY close to the explosion. These are old ships, and the Navy wanted to test the effect of the bomb on these ships. My grandfather remember some of them actually disintegrating before his eyes.

I hope this is something that can be passed along to io9 readers. I know my granddad would have loved to share these pictures with others if he could have.

We found the pictures to be breathtaking, and we think you will, too. A big thanks to Chris for sharing his awesome find!